10/09/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/09/2024 15:30
WASHINGTON, D.C. - This week, the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee, led by Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-Texas), released an investigative reportinto how the National Science Foundation (NSF) has increasingly politicized the use of taxpayer dollars meant for scientific research. The report details how more than one quarter of all NSF spending now flows to support left-wing ideological crusades masked as "academic research." The report showcases how some of this research has contributed to the radicalization of the scientific community and American campuses, including recent outbreaks of campus antisemitism.
In its first week, the Biden-Harris administration mandated that all taxpayer-funded scientific research and development (R&D) must incorporate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) values. Sen. Cruz's investigation found that in response to this directive, NSF allocated over $2.05 billion to thousands of research projects that promoted neo-Marxist perspectives or DEI tenets. Taxpayer dollars supported projects of questionable scientific merit, often led by researchers who used federal R&D dollars to drive divisive, extremist ideologies in their classrooms and on their campuses.
The Committee's analysis identified 3,483 grants-over 10% of all NSF grants awarded during the Biden-Harris administration-totaling more than $2.05 billion went to questionable projects that promoted DEI or pushed neo-Marxist perspectives about enduring class struggle. The Committee grouped these grants into five categories: Status, Social Justice, Gender, Race, and Environmental Justice.
The report reveals, through examples across categories, that many of the most extreme research proposals were led by principal investigators who are also promoting radical perspectives through on-campus activism and in their classrooms.
The report cites the following examples:
The report notes that some universities, like the University of Texas at Austin, have recognized that DEI efforts can undermine diversity, leading UT Austin to close its DEI office and redirect funds to teaching and research. In the conclusion, the report recommends Congress ban federal funding to institutions that permit discrimination or violate anti-discrimination laws, and calls for NSF to end DEI policies created under the Biden-Harris administration.
Read the full report HERE.
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